India to Develop New Tank, Use Russian Armata as Prototype

Source : http://sputniknews.com

Soviet and Russian military hardware makes up around 40 percent of all hardware in the Indian ground forces (it is even more in India's Air Force — 80 percent, and  Navy — 75 percent). In total, there are around 600 T-55 tanks, almost 2,000 T-72M1 and 640 T-90C tanks.The new tank the Indian Army plans to design and manufacture is known as the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV).

The new generation MBT will form the base platform for other armored vehicles, similar to the Russian-made Armata platform. The Indian army wants to use the platform for as many as 11 different tracked vehicles, including light tracked, wheeled, bridge layer and trawl tanks, self-propelled howitzers, air defense guns, artillery observation post and engineering reconnaissance vehicles, and armored ambulances, the Diplomat said.

India might likely use Russia's new Armata tank as a prototype for its own armored vehicle, Gazeta.ru reported. Earlier this month, defense expert Samir Patil from India's Gateway House analytical center said his country was willing to buy the Armata platform or some of its elements for future development of their own tank.

"I think India would like to purchase such a combat platform for its armed forces," Samir Patil said.

What makes the Armata tank stand out from its domestic and foreign counterparts is that the crew is securely enclosed in a multi-layer armored capsule separated from the ammunition container. The vehicle is fully computerized and only needs three servicemen to operate it.

The tank has an unmanned, remotely controlled turret, digitally controlled by a crew-member located in a separate compartment. It is believed that this would eventually lead to the development of a fully robotic tank.

India's Tank Plan Clouds Future of Arjun

Source : http://www.defensenews.com

NEW DELHI — The Indian Army's plan to develop and build a medium-weight main battle tank to replace more than 2,500 Russian T-72s has raised questions about the future of the homemade Arjun tank and likely would kill a decade-old proposal by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to build a tank, according to analysts and officials.

The Indian Army this month floated a global request for information to seek partners to design the new tank under a program called Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV). As a medium-weight platform it would weigh 40-plus tons, compared with the Arjun, which weighs 60 tons.

"The proposed FRCV is in the medium category and is more likely to be around the T-90 platform than the Arjun Mark-II platform, which is getting close to the medium-heavy/heavy category," said Anil Chait, retired Indian Army lieutenant general. "Designing and developing the product around proposed qualitative requirements afresh would suggest that we may be looking toward the end of the Arjun saga," he said.

However, Rahul Bhonsle, a retired Army brigadier general and defense analyst, said the Arjun will progress from the current Mark-1 level to Mark-3.

"The lead time for the FRCV to be manufactured, if all goes well, is likely to be approximately 15 years or so. This provides adequate scope for the Arjun series to be progressed to at least Mark-3. Moreover, there is a need in the Indian Army for an Arjun class of tank."

While no Ministry of Defence official would comment on the fate of the decade-old Futuristic Main Battle Tank (FMBT) project to be developed by DRDO, an Army official said FRCV has "surely killed" the FMBT.

The FMBT, intended to be in the 50-plus ton category, was also meant to replace the T-72s.

"The FRCV seems to be a completely new project which possibly junks the FMBT, which was being worked upon by the DRDO or may be a lead to the developing agency to add on to the existing work that has already been done on the same," Bhonsle said.

"I surely see Americans, Russians, French, Germans, Koreans and British participating along with Indian companies in stand-alone or joint venture mode. We could see leading companies from there which are involved with tank design, participating in it," Chait said.

Unlike the earlier tank effort, the FRCV does not restrict production to the DRDO. Domestic defense companies in tie-ups with overseas defense companies can serve as the production agencies.

"As this is an open competition, private agencies could also be roped in to develop the tank. The best option would be for DRDO designing and developing the same with a foreign partner as it is best placed technically to do so. For an Indian private company in collaboration with a foreign partner it would be a Greenfield venture," where the foreign company would construct new facilities for the project, Bhonsle said.

The Army plans to begin induction of the basic FRCV by 2025-27, which would be the platform on which numerous variants would be developed to serve different functions. These variants will include a tracked light tank, a wheeled version, a bridge layer tank, a trawl tank and mine plows, armored recovery vehicle, self-propelled gun, anti-aircraft tank, artillery observation vehicle, engineer reconnaissance vehicle, and armored ambulance.

According to the request for information, FRCV will be executed in three stages: design, prototype developmental and production.

The request says the design agency and developing agency can be separate entities. The best design will be chosen and given to the nominated development agency for prototype production. The selected prototype will be given to the production agency or agencies for bulk production.

Shankar Roy Chowdhury, retired Army general and former service chief, said the paramount requirement for the tank is survivability.

"Russian designers sought to achieve this [survivability] by smaller size [three-man crew and lighter armor], lower profile and speed. The West preferred larger turrets, hence thicker armor, heavier tanks. The test for both designs has been the Arab-Israeli wars and the gulf war. The Russian designs did not do too well. Blame that on the crews if you like," Roy Chowdhury said.

The most important requirement, however, is that the future FRCV must be indigenously designed, Roy Chowdhury said.

Germany hopeful of bagging submarine project RS 50,000 crore with Indian Navy

Source : http://www.brahmand.com

NEW DELHI (PTI): Hopeful of bagging the Rs 50,000 crore project of the Indian Navy for building six conventional submarines, Germany has said that it has offered some "pretty convincing" business offers to the Indian government for cooperation in the defence sector.

German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner said the P-75(I) project was under discussion and that the matter also came up during German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen's visit here last month.

"They did not talk about how this deal should be done...whether this should be Business-to-Business or Government-to -Government. But as our Minister said, from these talks, it was a clear sign that there is potential for cooperation in this field (defence) and also in the field of submarines," he said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here last night.

German defence major TKMS is offering India its HDW Class 214 vessel and is in talks with leading shipyards in the country for a tie-up.

The Germans are also promising a no-hold barred transfer of technology in line with the Narendra Modi government's 'Make in India' push.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had set up a special committee for the project to identify the shipyards in the country that have the capability and the capacity to build the six submarines. These shipyards will then tie-up with a foreign firm.

Besides the public shipyards, the private players include L&T and Pipavav, in which Anil Ambani-led Reliance group has bought controlling stake. The committee is expected to submit the report soon.

After the Indian government announced a G2G deal with France for 36 Rafale jets, the Germans are hopeful that a deal can be struck faster than earlier.

India currently operates four HDW Type 209 submarines and the first was inducted way back in 1986.

Asked about the Rafale deal, Steiner said European economies are so interwoven that if a French company has an economic success, it is very much in German interest as well.

Indian government expressed intrests to build Stealth Frigates jointly with Russia

Source : https://www.ibcworldnews.com

The Indian government has expressed interest in jointly building Stealth Frigates with Russia, with the proviso that they be built in India. The Indian Prime Minister has laid emphasis on increasingly producing defence equipment in India, under the government. India Make the programme, with joint collaboration.

Russia has supplied six frigates to India between 2003 and 2013, under Project 11356, all of which were built in St. Petersburg at the Kaliningrad factory. The first three ships carry the Russian cruise missile system on board, while the other three frigates are armed with cruise missile jointly produced by Russia and India.

Having completed a series of three Indian orders, we were hoping that India would extend their cooperation with us, especially since the Indian Defence Ministry mentioned that their Navy needed another three or four ships of this class. Now they are planning to produce such ships at home, of course, with our participation and under our patronage, Shumakov said.
Shumakov said the frigates to be built in India would be armed with more sophisticated weapons than the ones carried by the existing ships of the project.

We tend to think that it will be the ship of the same class, but with somewhat different arms, as the technical capabilities of weapons are constantly evolving, so I think there will be something new to mount on this ship.

At the same time, in terms of seaworthiness, the ship will be absolutely the same. We are currently consulting with our Indian counterparts on these issues, the General Director of said.

Patrol ships under project 11356 are designed for combat operations against surface ships and submarines, for meeting the air attacks, both autonomously and as part of formation. They carry universal missile and artillery weapons and modern radar facilities for anti-submarine and air defence.

Ships of this series have a displacement of about 4 thousand tons, they are 125 meters in length, with speeds of up to 30 knots and can carry a crew of 180 people.